25 Exegetical Truths about Justice: A Summary from Psalms 97–101

August 8, 2020August 8, 2020 / davidsschrock / 1 Comment

Over the last five weeks, I have been outlining an approach to righteousness and justice that stands on an exegetical study of Psalms 97–101. In what follows I will summarize those studies and show the way righteous justice is . . .

found in God’s kingdom,
communicated by his justification of sinners,
mediated from heaven to earth through his royal priests,
triumphant over all sin and unrighteousness, and
established in his household.

As I have stated many times, the order of God’s righteousness and justice is important. And here is summary of the steps that we find in Psalms 97–101. Continue reading →

The Penultimate Step toward Jesus: Reading Psalms 90–106 Canonically

August 5, 2020 / davidsschrock

low angle grayscale photo of empty brick stairs

Photo by Ravi Kant on Pexels.com

Anyone who has spent time reading this blog knows that I’ve done a bit of writing on the Psalms and their canonical shape. Seeing the arrangement of the Psalms not only helps us appreciate how Scripture holds together, it also helps us understand the message of the Psalter. In what follows I want to dig into Psalms 90–106 (Book 4) and show a few ways the arrangement helps discern the message. In particular, I am persuaded these Psalms fit with Israel’s return from exile and the construction of the temple (i.e. the Second Temple).

Since I haven’t seen this argument made much in the literature, I’m floating these ideas here as a way of reading Book 4 as a unified whole. Let me know what you think and if these three observations make sense of how you read the Psalms. Continue reading →

From God’s Throne to His Priests by way of His Word: Three More Truths About Justice

July 21, 2020July 21, 2020 / davidsschrock / 4 Comments

cloud05 Over the last few weeks, our church has been thinking about justice from the Psalms. In Psalm 97, we saw that God himself is the source and standard of justice. In Psalm 98, we discovered how God “does” justice in justifying the ungodly by providing a legal substitute. And in Psalm 99, we saw how priestly mediators served to bring justice from God’s temple to God’s people, and from Zion to the ends of the earth.

In what follows, I will conclude the message of Psalm 99 in three points of application about justice. Continue reading →

Mediated Justice: A Sermon on Psalm 99

July 20, 2020July 20, 2020 / davidsschrock

cloud05 On Sunday, our sermon series took another step in our study of God’s justice. Thus far we’ve seen the justice of God at his throne in Psalm 97 and God’s justice in his justification of sinners in Psalm 98. Now we will see how God creates a kingdom of priests who preach, proclaim, and pursue justice on the earth as in heaven in Psalm 99. These royal priests, when taught by the Spirit of God, are the holy instruments that God uses to bring his justice from heaven to earth.

Today, as many Christians take a renewed interest in justice, it is important to see that God’s Word is wholly sufficient for instructing us in justice and empowering us to seek justice righteously. To that end, this sermon shows how Christians, as a kingdom of priests, play a part in bringing God’s justice into the world. Importantly, this mediating role does not add justice to the justification of the gospel. Rather, justice flowers from faith in the gospel message itself, as God’s people proclaim God’s justifying grace and pursue good works wherever God sends them.

You can listen to the sermon online or watch below. Tomorrow I will follow up with another post on points of application from Psalm 99.

Soli Deo Gloria, ds

Justice and Justification: Five More Truths about Justice

July 15, 2020August 7, 2020 / davidsschrock / 4 Comments

cloud05 On Sunday, I explained from Psalm 98 how God justifies sinners and demonstrates that he is both just and justifier (Rom. 3:26). From that message, let me synthesize five more truths about justice. These build upon three truths about justice from Psalm 97, and they continue to assist our understanding of justice as the Bible presents it.

What Psalm 98 Teaches Us about Justice

Because salvation means different things to different people, it is always important to define salvation from the Bible itself. In Psalm 98, therefore, we need to see how salvation is presented. And importantly, we will see that salvation comes from God’s justifying justice.

In other words, salvation is not simply the victorious defeat of God’s enemies for his people, nor is it the dismissal of guilt from his people without a legal solution, nor is it the liberation of oppressed people regardless of their sin. Rather, as we learn from Psalm 98, salvation is grounded in the events of redemptive history which turn on the exodus. In fact, we can find at least five truths about justice in Psalm 98. Continue reading →

Justifying Justice: A Sermon on Psalm 98

July 12, 2020 / davidsschrock

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This week’s sermon on Psalm 98 continues our series in the Psalms which looks at the theme of God’s justice. Last week, we learned that God is the source and standard of justice. His kingdom is the place where his justice comes from heaven to earth.

This week, we see how God brings justice to the earth through the just justification of the unjust. This truth is most clearly articulated in places like Romans and Galatians, but we also find it in places like the Psalms. And this week I show from Psalm 98 how we can better understand God’s justifying justice. You can listen to the sermon or watch the video below.

Continue reading →

Perfect Praise: Seeing the Seven’s in Psalms 96–99

July 11, 2020 / davidsschrock / 3 Comments

tanner-mardis-612668-unsplash (1) In his commentary on the Psalms, Konrad Schaefer shows a “pattern of sevens” that permeates Psalms 96–99. In a section of the Psalter that already demonstrates remarkable structure, these “septets” (a group of seven) add to the unity and message of Book IV in the Psalms.

Let’s hear what Schaefer says about these septets, and then consider the merit of his observations. Why should we care about these groups of seven? (Hint: It may have something to do with the number of perfection).

Continue reading →

Seeing the Connections in Psalms 93–100 That Lead Us to Christ

July 9, 2020July 9, 2020 / davidsschrock / 1 Comment

mick-haupt-eQ2Z9ay9Wws-unsplash Beginning with Psalm 93, we enter a new phase in Book IV. Namely, we find selection of seven psalms (93–99) that herald the enthronement of Yahweh as king (Yahweh Melek) and one psalm (100) that brings us back to courts of the temple, where worship is renewed. Significantly, these psalms move from Israel’s exile to the hill of the Lord, and more decisively, these psalms show God himself returning to Zion and bringing his people with him.

If the arrangement of the psalms is to be taken into account, worship culminates when the people of God are brought into God’s temple, as he sits enthroned on his holy mountain. This second temple location—a point I suggested earlier this week—is seen in Psalm 100:4, as it states, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!” Gates and courts imply Israel’s return to the temple. Yet, even more explicitly, Psalm 99:9 reads, “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain . . .” In this final verse of Psalm 99, we find the set up for Psalm 100.

In fact, as we can see in the graph below, every psalm in this section (Psalms 93–100) is “set up” by the last verse of the preceding verse. Such connections reinforce our confidence that these Psalms present a redemptive-historical narrative, and one that leads from Israel’s Babylonian Captivity (Ps. 89) to the restoration of worship in God’s temple (Ps. 100–106). Indeed, the Psalms display an incredible (chrono)logical ordering, and when we look at Psalms 93–100, we see this in the way each psalm prepares the way for the next, until the whole section tells how God is enthroned in Zion.

Continue reading →

Yahweh’s Penultimate Enthronement: Observing the Return-From-Exile Narrative in Psalms 90–106

July 7, 2020July 10, 2020 / davidsschrock / 3 Comments

the-psalms It is unmistakable that Psalms 96, 105, and 106 find their genesis in 1 Chronicles 16. Just read them together, and you will see how the psalms take up different parts of 1 Chronicles. With this background, it begins to help us see how to understand the message of Book IV in the Psalter, as well as the timing of Book IV.

In the original setting (in 1 Chronicles 16), David writes a psalm to celebrate the ark of the covenant coming to Jerusalem. After the ark, the symbol of God’s ruling presence, had been lost in battle to the Philistines and displaced from God’s people, David took pains to bring the ark to its proper place—the tabernacle set up in Jerusalem.

From another angle, this return of the ark can be described as the Lord’s enthronement. In David’s lifetime, we find the first enthronement of God in his holy city. What was promised by God, going back to Exodus 15:17–18 . . .

(You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain,
the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
¹⁸ The Lord will reign forever and ever.”)

. . . came to fruition under David’s rule.

Yet, when we read the Psalms in chronological order, we find that Psalms 90–106 do not match up with the Lord’s enthronement in David’s day. Rather, placed after David died (see Psalm 71) and after David’s sons had lost the throne (Psalm 89), Book IV describes a new enthronement, or what David Mitchell (The Message of the Psalter) calls a “return from exile.” Clearly, Book IV is using the event of the Lord’s enthronement in David’s day as “type” that can be applied in a new setting. But what is that setting? And when? Continue reading →

Kingdom Justice: Let Justice Flow Down from the Throne of God (Psalm 97)

July 6, 2020July 6, 2020 / davidsschrock / 2 Comments

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No Justice, No Peace.

These words have been chanted, preached, and tweeted innumerable times in the last few months. And like so many slogans, they grip the heart because of the way they resonate with God’s truth (read Isa. 9:6–7; Rom. 14:17) and humanity’s need. Yet, as is often the case, such slogans fail to define their terms.

As a result, the meaning of justice and peace is left undefiled and liable for misuse.

Thankfully, as disciples of Christ, we don’t need to wonder what justice is, where peace comes from, or how God intends for his people to do justice and seek righteousness. However, it is possible in the cacophony of contemporary voices to forget that God’s eternal Word is sufficient for all of life and godliness.

Serendipitously (which means under God’s sovereignty), Psalms 97–101 provide some of the most helpful discussion of justice in the Bible. Starting this week, as we continue to study the Steadfast Psalms of Book IV, we begin a mini-series on justice.

While paying attention to their original context, we can learn much about God’s righteousness and justice in Psalms 97–101. To that end, you listen to this week’s sermon or watch it below. Additionally, I have included a couple other videos that begin to help us think biblically about the justice of God.